Duquesne Adjuncts’ Union Election Result On Hold

The National Labor Relations Board has impounded ballots in a union organizing effort by adjunct faculty at Duquesne University pending the board’s decision on an appeal by the university.

Robert Chester director of the Pittsburgh office of the NLRB on Tuesday said the ballots, which were scheduled to be counted Tuesday, will remain in a safe pending a decision from board headquarters in Washington, D.C., on an appeal from the university.

Duquesne agreed in May to have the agency oversee a mail-in ballot by adjunct or part-time faculty seeking to organize as the Adjuncts Association of the United Steelworkers.

University officials later filed a petition seeking to withdraw from the process and asking to be exempted from NLRB oversight on the grounds that it is a religious institution. Although the NLRB regional office in Pittsburgh denied the petition, Duquesne appealed the decision to the agency’s Washington office, which has yet to issue a ruling.